Does the Cat Genie Really Work?

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• BEWARE OF CAT GENIE!! They scammed us out of several thousand dollars between their crappy products and our time. We spent over 10 HOURS ON THE PHONE WITH THEIR SUPPORT for TWO different boxes and they wont replace a box that was under warranty for a box we received that malfunctioned day 1!! Per their own advisors, the machines are “sensitive” and have to have PERFECT conditions to operate. They will make you take hundred of photos, send THOUSANDS OF EMAILS, videos, basically stand on your head, and on and on for hours to avoid replacing THEIR FAULTY EQUIPMENT. Its a ridiculous ploy to get you tired of dealing with them so they don't have to fulfill their warranty. They basically do everything they can to make you get tired of trying to fix the box (like take photos of everything in and outside of the box, examples shown). DO NOT BUY FROM CAT GENIE UNLESS YOU LIKE HAVING YOUR TIME WASTED!!

• Works OK for a while. We are on our second one and it just crapped out. Don't expect them to last much past the warranty. The unit beeps constantly (error messages) and nothing we could do fixes it. The drain hose has begun to leak and the design is so poor that it can't be repaired or replaced. I won't be buying another one.

• We have 4 cats and just bought set up the Catgenie yesterday. Set up wasn't an issue having an engineer boyfriend and the cats immediately began using it. First day we woke up with it, though, our entire 3-story house reeked (worse than with any other litter box--and we used the Litter Robot for a couple years and before that the Petsafe crystal litter raking system). Problem with this is, we can't set it to cat activation mode as that would mean it is always cycling (and yes, a 30-minute cycle is ridiculous). So we have to either keep it on manual or set it to run every few hours. Why you can't set it to cycle at certain times is beyond me. In any event, the biggest problem we found this morning is that the thing is flushing out the actual granules because we see granules in the bottom of our toilet. I don't think this is supposed to happen. Given the reviews re: warranty/return horror stories, we will be returning this very soon if things don't get better.

  • This is a common occurrance and does happen when hooked up to toilet.

  • What about this: buy one of those outlet timers, the kind for having a lamp turn on off everyday. Plug cat genie into that so it doesn’t cycle constantly.
    Would that work?

• I bought one of this used for $150 and it was the best thing I've done. I wish I had bought one years ago. If you compare the cost of the cat genie vs litter then it may not seem like such a great deal. But always having a clean litter box and not having to actually clean it is priceless. If this one died and I couldn't find a used one I would gladly fork over the money for a new one. I'm not sure who is spoiled more by it, me or the cat.

• In reading these reviews, I am thankful for the insights. I really hope the manufacturer actually reads these and makes changes. I was on the verge of creating my own version of this product when the wife found the Genie online. I figured it would take a lot less effort to buy one than to make one, IF there were no major issues.

  Now, I have lots of cats (7). More than anybody else posting here. I also have a small home, a small bathroom, and no real utility room. That said, I started looking at the true cost of sticking with what I'm doing or finding an alternative.

  Tried the Citty Kitty. 4-5 of the cats actually were using the toilet. With this many cats, I literally must have a basement toilet. The training process is very, very messy and highly inconvenient for the family. Even after attempting the training for about 6 months (no litter box option), I found that cat traffic on the seat left the seat fairly dirty. Understandably, imagine you and I walking around the house every day barefoot and then standing on the toilet to pee and poop. Went back to the cat box.

  Incidentally, we have only one cat box. it's a large one with a sifting screen at the bottom, but that makes more mess than scooping, which results in no time savings, so I use the scoop. Looking at the cost, I use the Tidy cat clumping that comes in the square bucket with the light blue lid. I use the buckets for storage of other stuff around the house and shed. With this many cats, I go through about 1 bucket a week. At $13 a bucket, it's roughly $50 a month, or $650 a year plus tax ($725). The box itself was around $20.

  Tried using the litter genie, which is the same concept as the diaper genie. It's flimsy and cheap and for this many cats, completely ineffective. I resorted to using shopping bags, which I get as a side effect of shopping. So there is some non-recyclable waste from the bags.

  Time has a price. I spend a minimum of 10 minutes, twice a day to clean the box. I am subject to the biohazard as well as intense ammonia concentrations, which I'm certain are not good for lungs or eyes or sinuses (Though I seem to have fewer cold/flu/infections than the rest of the family). Either way, it's amazingly unpleasant and frustrating and is one reason why, after these beautiful creatures expire, I don't want any more. Pretty sad reason really. Anyways, 20 minutes a day adds up to about 120 hours a year. How would you rather spend your time?

  Cat Box: $725 and 120 hours a year, for 7 cats.

  Now, for the cat genie. I read that one machine is recommended for a max of 3 cats, so that's one strike right there. I don't have space for 2 or 3 of these units, nor would I want 2-3 units to worry about and maintain. The 10 hour sleep mode would mean that the machine wakes up to a pile of cat feces and urine every day. The option of having this machine run at night in the room right next to my bedroom is not an option. So I'd worry about the machine being able to handle the 'load'. incidentally, my cats sleep between 1am and 4am. And of course during the day when I have to be awake and functioning. So, machine noise and timing and durability are major issues for me. I'm a general contractor with years of handyman experience, so setting up the plumbing and electrical is not an issue. However, I would like to see actual energy and water usage numbers so I can account for the cost in my analysis. Assuming a 4 year lifespan, replacing the beads and cleaning solution seem to point at a monthly cost of about $25-30 or around $360 per year (including an estimate for utilities, solution, beads, and unit cost per year), for 3 cats. Double that for 7. Time is also part of this equation. Setup time will vary depending on location of utility hookups. Mine would be a few hours. Maintenance time is another big unknown. A few here have mentioned that the beads do track and that some are lost in the process of flushing, which means monitoring the bead level and sweeping up.

  Some problems and questions: Beads too light, can they be replaced with something heavier that is not lost to the grinder and will not track, ever? Is there a better system that doesn't involve using loose granules? Plastic coated steel granules that can be retained with a magnet? Anyways, one challenge is when the cat has liquid poop, or mostly liquid. It needs to be rinsed off quickly before it encases whatever granules are used.
  Our toilets flush in seconds. A cycle time of 30 minutes is just way too long. It also implies a high water usage and high electrical usage.
  After reading through the official manual, it would appear that maintenance is almost as involved as a cat box, it is simply trading something smelly but easy for something that could be smelly and is technical.
  My final thoughts are that it's a complex machine that would not likely save any money, might save a bunch of time, or it could cost more time and headache. The website specifically states that the cost of the solution matches the yearly cost of cat litter. It doesn't take much to realize that when you add in the machine, the granules and the utilities, it WILL cost more than cat litter. It is also NOT maintenance free, not even close.

  Might be time to design one of my own...

  • Do it!!!
    I think your magnet idea is pretty cool.

    You mentioned 7 cats and only one box. I’m shocked. How do you not have constant cat poop or pee outside the litter box? My cats (2) use one box for #1, another for #2 and a third box for privacy or avoiding ambush. You said “The 10 hour sleep mode would mean that the machine wakes up to a pile of cat feces and urine every day.” Don’t you wake up w that anyway, having only one box??! Also I don’t think the sleep mode has to be 10 hours...

• FIRST - this site is rigged. It will NOT let me give a rating of 1 star.

  In looking at the reviews, I've noticed something. There is no true benefit to owning this. Cost wise, you're actually paying more than the traditional standard box.

  After the expensive initial cost you pay for the unit, you still have to buy their replacement cartridges every month for more than the cost of cat litter that will last as long. You now have the added cost of electricity and water to operate the thing.

  It will only last a few years. I have a nice plastic box that has lasted over 10 years. It cleans up quickly when it's time and right back in use.

  My plastic box is more trustworthy. It has never malfunctioned nor flooded, ever. I've never had to fight with it to make it work. So I've never had to deal with frustrating, inept 'customer service.'

• If it's out of warranty, they will deem the unit too old for repairs. My unit is identical to a new one, and there have obviously been no new models released since then. I even swapped my broken processing unit (the brains of the machine) with a friend's new one, to see if they were incompatible. My CatGenie worked fine with the newer processing unit. I called/emailed several different employees, who could not explain what if anything had changed in the design that made my unit too old for repairs. They just suggested I buy a new one. Riiight... I decided to give up on repairs and ask for a replacement processing unit, since that's obviously the broken part. They do not sell that part at all. IF THE CORE OF THE CAT GENIE BREAKS, I REPEAT, THEY WILL NOT SELL YOU A NEW ONE. They again suggested I buy a new unit, and said that I got tons of mileage out of my old one. It's only been four years since I bought my first CatGenie!! Apparently Cat Genie's are not meant to last for more than a few years. Ridiculous considering how expensive they are. This is a greedy company that suckers you into a subscription for their litter and cleaning solution, while also selling the machine at a super high price, with the promise it will save you time and money in the long run. If I have to keep replacing these $200+ units every couple of years, there's no way that's worth it.

  • What about buying one, harvesting the CPU, swapping the old one into it, and returning that new one for a refund?
    That’s a nice middle finger for them :-D

    • No, that's a middle finger for the store equivalent to THEFT and hence an expense for all other consumers....

• I love the idea, and at first thought it would be worth the expense, but one time out of town and the thing malfunctioned leaving the cats to not want to use it while it made noise! They opted for the area around the box which is as you know nasty to come home to! The next time I came home to a flood cause the plastic fitting leaked from my laundry room and flooded the area. The smell when it cleans has chased my guests from my home as it smells like pig sty! HELP cat genie!! What's up with this?

• So we (my wife and I) were given two of these for our new family members. We rescued two beautiful Bengals. I have always wanted a cat genie. But little did I know I'd need two! These things run for 30 mins per use. It's only been a month and I really appreciate not visiting the box except for the few times it beeped all night long because it needed some sensor cleaned. I'm a little nervous about the added water and electric bills. But what is it really worth if it works? So far I'm pleased but we have two! Any less and who knows.

  I had no idea that cats poop on the same schedule.

• My daughter bought me the basic CatGenie for my four cats, and we love it! What a huge advantage over regular cat boxes. The litter in the CatGenie is biodegradable and won't harm the plumbing. It took m cats no time at all to get used to it! Yes, a cartridge is about $26.00, but that last two months or more! Well worth the investment!